Global VC Investments Soar High in Q4 2024, India Faces Slump The report said that at a regional level, countries in America accounted for a major chunk of VC capital drawn, driven mostly by large-sum deals in the US.
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The Americas attracted a "lion's share" of venture capital (VC) investment, but India faced a slump in Q4 comparatively, according to a recent KPMG report called the 'Q4'24 Venture Pulse Report.'
The report said that at a regional level, countries in America accounted for a major chunk of VC capital drawn, driven mostly by large-sum deals in the US. Most notably, Databricks, a global data, artificial intelligence (AI), and analytics company raised USD 10 billion, taking its valuation up to USD 62 billion.
The funding round was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners, and WCM Investment Management.
Europe recorded a VC investment rise quarter-over-quarter, with the total level of investment remaining relatively soft compared to other recent quarters, the report said. The UK led in terms of the highest funds attracted, largely driven by a USD 1.3 billion funding raised by AI-enabler data platform, GreenScale.
Asia however, continued to see low levels of funding during the final quarter of 2024, led by a USD 1.1 billion fundraise by Beijing-based clean energy company CNNP Rich Energy.
The report also stated that the global AI space attracted a major chunk of all global VC funding this quarter, with over USD 32 billion coming from deals exceeding USD 1 billion each. Notable fundraising includes Databrick's USD 10 billion raise, a USD 6.6 billion raise by OpenAI, a USD 6 billion raise by xAI, a USD 5.6 billion raise by Waymo, a USD 4 billion raise by Anthropic, and a USD 1.3 billion raise by GreenScale. Although the US attracted the vast majority of AI investments this quarter, all regions recorded significant interest in AI-focused companies.
Nitish Poddar, Partner and National Leader, Private Equity. KPMG in India said, that when one looks at the results year-over-year, 2024 has been a better year compared to the previous year for VC capital in India, and projected the possibility of 2025 being even better.
"While Q4'24 saw us hit a bit of a speed bump, we're still seeing a lot of activity in the VC market here, especially in the area of quick commerce. Over the last year, a few of these companies have held successful IPOs, which is giving VC investors confidence to make bolder bets given the expansion of potential exit routes," said Poddar.
Top VC investments in AI startups in India include Krutim's USD 50 million led by Matrix Partners India, Nutrix AI's USD 27.5 million seed round led by Accel, and AI-powered dermatology platform CureSkin securing USD 20 million in Series B funding led by the likes of JSW Ventures and Khosla Ventures. Although these signify important strides towards capital support for the AI industry in India, the funding rounds fall short when compared to other leading regions.
According to the report, there is growing optimism that global VC investment to pick up, particularly if interest rates continue to plummet and the exit situation perks up. The first quarter will attract interest in the IPO market, with the market conditions improving after the US presidential elections.
Areas such as defense tech, health, biotech, cybersecurity, and alternative energy are also likely to attract significant interest from VCs, with AI leading the race, the report said.
